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As a model for redox components on the donor side of photosystem II (PS II) in green plants, a supramolecular complex 4 has been prepared. In this, a ruthenium(II) tris-bipyridyl complex which mimics the function of P680 in PS II, has been covalently linked to a tyrosine unit which bears two hydrogen-bonding substituents, dipicolylamine (dpa) ligands. Our aim is to mimic the interaction between tyrosineZ and a basic histidine residue, namely His190 in PSII, and also to use the dpa ligands for coordination of manganese. Two different routes for the synthesis of the compound 4 are presented. Its structure was fully characterized by 1H NMR, COSY, NOESY, 13C NMR, IR, and mass spectrometry. 1H NMR and NOESY gave evidence for the existence of intramolecular hydrogen bonding in 4. The interaction between the ruthenium and the substituted tyrosine unit was probed by steady-state and time-resolved emission measurements as well as by chemical oxidation. Flash photolysis and EPR measurements on 4 in the presence of an electron acceptor (methylviologen, MV2+, or cobalt pentaminechloride, Co3+) showed that an intermolecular electron transfer from the excited state of Ru(II) in 4 to the electron acceptor took place, forming Ru(III) and the methylviologen radical MV+• or Co2+. This was followed by intramolecular electron transfer from the substituted tyrosine moiety to the photogenerated Ru(III), regenerating Ru(II) and forming a tyrosyl radical. In water, the radical has a g value of 2.0044, indicative of a deprotonated tyrosyl radical. In acetonitrile, a radical with a g value of 2.0029 was formed, which can be assigned to the tyrosine radical cation. In both solvents the electron transfer is intramolecular with a rate constant k ET > 1 × 107 s-1. This is 2 orders of magnitude greater than the one for a similar compound 3, in which no dpa arm is attached to the tyrosine unit. Therefore the hydrogen bonding between the substituted tyrosine and the dpa arms in 4 is proposed to be responsible for the fast electron transfer. This interaction mimics the proposed His190 and tyrosineZ interaction in the donor side of PS II.